Anguished by lack of facility to cremate COVID-19 casualties HC initiates PIL

Anguished by lack of facilities to cremate those who died due to COVID-19 and the bodies piling up in the mortuaries, the Delhi High Court on Thursday initiated a PIL to deal with the issue, saying if this was the correct situation then it was "highly dissatisfactory and violative of the rights of the dead". A bench of Justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Asha Menon said that as citizens of Delhi they were pained at the state of affairs as reported in newspapers on Thursday.

The bench noted that according to the news reports inside the COVID-19 mortuary of Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi, there are 108 bodies of which 28 are piled on floor on top of each other as there are only 80 storage racks. The high court noted, that according to the reports, Lok Nayak hospital is the largest dedicated COVID-19 hospital in the city and its mortuary is the repository of bodies of those who died of the corona virus disease or are suspected to have died of it.

The news reports also said that on May 26, eight bodies were returned from Nigam Bodh ghat CNG crematorium as the facility was not in a position to accept more bodies as only two of its six furnaces were working, it noted.  "Bodies of those who died five days ago, are yet to be cremated. The backlog in disposal of bodies has been caused owing to non-functioning of CNG furnaces at Nigam Bodh and Punjabi Bagh crematoriums," the high court said referring to the news reports. The bench also noted that though wood based cremation was permitted, personnel operating the said crematoriums are refusing to take part and there unrest at the Nigam Bodh Ghat as the staff and priests working there have stopped functioning.

"We, as citizens of Delhi are pained at the aforesaid state of affairs and as judges find the situation as reported and if true, to be highly dissatisfactory and violative of the rights of the dead.  "We thus take suo moto cognizance of the aforesaid violations of human rights and by this order bring the same to the notice of the Chief Justice, to take up the aforesaid matter in public interest, for issuing requisite directions," the bench said. It directed that a copy of the order be placed before Chief Justice D N Patel and also be forwarded to Delhi government standing counsel Ramesh Singh as well as the lawyers for the three municipal corporations, entrusted with cremation and burial grounds in the city, "to enable them to obtain instructions and present the facts before this court".   The bench listed the matter for hearing on Friday.

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